Royal College of Nursing response to Prime Minister’s speech on Modern Public Services

Published: 17 January 2011

Responding to the Prime Minister’s speech on Modern Public Services delivered today (17 January), Royal College of Nursing Chief Executive & General Secretary, Dr Peter Carter, said:

“The NHS is the jewel in the crown of our public services and we welcome the Prime Minister’s words that our health service should continue to be world-class, that people deserve choice and that health professionals should be given more freedom to deliver care.

“However, changes must be based on sound evidence and achieved without damaging care. We are concerned that at the same time the service is being challenged to save £20 billion, this reform programme could come off the rails, as people concentrate on saving money rather than delivering quality care. We’re already seeing this as Trusts make short-sighted cuts to jobs with 27,000 posts already earmarked to go. Continuing down this path could have a disastrous affect on patient care. The Government needs to set out how they intend to support the service to halt the tide of cuts – after all, the Prime Minister himself said his first priority is to protect frontline services and to protect jobs in public services. We don’t doubt that financial savings can and should be made, but patients must always come first.”

Dr Carter added:

“The Prime Minister rightly said that no-one believes the budget deficit is the fault of public sector workers. However, with freezes on pay combined with attacks on jobs and pensions, it will be difficult for nurses and other health workers not to feel that the blame is being laid squarely at their feet.”

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Notes for Editors

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The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is the voice of nursing across the UK and is the largest professional union of nursing staff in the world. The RCN promotes the interest of nurses and patients on a wide range of issues and helps shape healthcare policy by working closely with the UK Government and other national and international institutions, trade unions, professional bodies and voluntary organisations